Peoria County emergency radio system making switch to digital

PEORIA — A massive overhaul of the radio system used by emergency responders in Peoria County to a digital interface that promises improved coverage and more comprehensive communication abilities is underway.

The switch has been years in the making and will allow for the first time members of different agencies — city police and volunteer firefighters in rural areas of the county — to communicate directly with their regular equipment in instances like large-scale disasters.

"It's going to be up to us to use the system in a cooperative mode during large events so we know what to do during a disaster," said Peoria City/County 911 Dispatch Director David Tuttle. "We want to make sure that we're not reliant on cellphones. We've tried to build in as much backup as we can … so we don't have to rely on the public network."

Big changes are in store for civilians who listen to radio traffic, as well. Only scanners able to decipher P-25 digital signals similar to those broadcast on the Starcom system by Illinois State Police will be able to pick up radio traffic when the new countywide system goes live in the coming months. Those devices tend to be the most expensive models, costing hundreds of dollars each.

Dispatch communication will continue to be broadcast without encryption, though Tuttle said there has not yet been discussion about whether to continue streaming the audio online as it does now. He cautioned that there is no indication the practice will be discontinued, just that it has not yet been broached.

The new radio system is in the middle of its first major test, with crews driving every road in the county with equipment to test signal strength. The geographic area has been broken down into about 2,700 grids to cover approximately 630 square miles of jurisdiction.

"This is just the first step of the testing process," said Dan Voiland, a consultant who has been brought in by the Emergency Telephone System Board to oversee installation of the new system. "That normally will take two weeks, but the big test that follows that is the audio test. … That's really where the rubber hits the road."

Part of that audio test includes using the system in various buildings around the county to determine proper penetration of radio signals and whether bidirectional amplifiers are necessary to boost the signals.

Some squad cars and fire department vehicles have been equipped with mobile boosters along with new radios that will work with the system. Many of those new units throughout the county were purchased with federal grant money procured through interagency cooperation.

New dispatch consoles and other equipment will be installed at the main dispatch center in the first two weeks of February, when staff work out of backup locations as part of an annual test of the county's backup systems.

Page 2 of 2 - Radio traffic is expected to switch over to the new system in May, though permission for a delay beyond the end of June has been sought from the Federal Communication Commission as a precautionary measure. The Peoria dispatch center was one of the few facilities in the nation to receive an extension for narrowband requirements that took effect at the beginning of 2013 because of the extensive overhaul of the system it already had planned.

"This literally is the biggest change to the Peoria County radio system in 40 years," said Tuttle. "There's going to be a learning curve."

Matt Buedel can be reached at 686-3154 or mbuedel@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @JournoBuedel.